Been busy as he!! and pretty banged up besides (snowboard, dammit.) so I haven't been posting much. And since I just quit my job to work for myself, I've been thinking of ways to take advantage of the fact. I may be doing some consulting in Dallas mid-August, and I was thinking (crazy thoughts) and I started wondering if it were possible to do a proper dual-sport trip on the 'Fant from LA to Dallas. 50% (or maybe more) off-road and a week-ish to get to Dallas, possibly by way of my hometown of Round Rock to see one of my best friends.

I've never done anything this significant, just local trails and such (out and back from campgrounds) and I don't know where to start (and don't have the time) to find the resources to do something like this. So I look to the skilled mahouts to guide me... teach me in your wise ways! Got routes? Map resources? Places to hit up? To avoid?

Haven't decided whether I'll take my 'pretty' fant or my 'Lucky' dirt monster. Depends on how gnarly the trails are and whether I can get some work done to Lucky in time.

Nice looking 'fant. Remarkable how well it holds up in both ability and looks against two decade newer machines isn't it.

Thanks.

She did really well. We had KLR650's and BMW GS1200 Adv in our group and the 'Fant had no trouble LEADING the group all day long. i was chosen to lead since I was one of only a few with a GPS, and I didn't mind the responsibility - not because of my off-road skill as this was my first dirt outing on the bike.

I have upgraded suspension front and rear on her so that made it nice.

I took the Elefant out to the MotoGP at Indy. Paid for parking in the DUC area.

They were nice enough to put my bike on the end of a row each day so as not to bury her in the middle of the pack. I had a bunch of people comment on the bike and some ask questions. Even met a few Elefant Owners.

One guy (I forget his name now) bought a 1994 Elefant 900 new in 2005 from a Ducati Dealer in NJ that had it sitting in the foyer since new!

Got one of mine back on the road! Still got one down with clutch issues, and honestly, this one has a grabby clutch, too. But at least it's running really well. If you're in SoCal, MotorPsycho Sport is a good shop, and Jeff was very patient with the bike - needed quite a few things, including new reg/rectifier, new CDI box, and some general sorting. I normally do my own wrenching, but it's been a very busy year and I had to farm this out.

Can't wait to hit the trails!

Slowly bringing my herd back to life... Michael Heth over at elefant adventure bikes is very good to have around, too.

Got one of mine back on the road! Still got one down with clutch issues, and honestly, this one has a grabby clutch, too. But at least it's running really well. If you're in SoCal, MotorPsycho Sport is a good shop, and Jeff was very patient with the bike - needed quite a few things, including new reg/rectifier, new CDI box, and some general sorting. I normally do my own wrenching, but it's been a very busy year and I had to farm this out.

Can't wait to hit the trails!

Slowly bringing my herd back to life... Michael Heth over at elefant adventure bikes is very good to have around, too.

Oh man I wish you told us it needed a rectifier and CDI - would have recommended some excellent upgrades at the time!

For the Reg/Rect. you could have gone MOSFET FH020AA for an excellent low heat generating option. Installed a kit from www.motoelectrix.com on mine with 10-gauge wire and a Maxi-fuse and works WONDERFULLY.

For the CDI I would have recommended the Ignitech Sparker TCIP4 ignition replacement for the Kokusan modules. This thing really does smooth out the engine! I couldn't believe the difference.

Oh man I wish you told us it needed a rectifier and CDI - would have recommended some excellent upgrades at the time!

For the Reg/Rect. you could have gone MOSFET FH020AA for an excellent low heat generating option. Installed a kit from www.motoelectrix.com on mine with 10-gauge wire and a Maxi-fuse and works WONDERFULLY.

For the CDI I would have recommended the Ignitech Sparker TCIP4 ignition replacement for the Kokusan modules. This thing really does smooth out the engine! I couldn't believe the difference.

WOW! I was not really expecting the engine to run that much smoother with the Ignitech ignition - but it really did smooth things out! My mirrors were actually clearer. Good investment.

To mount it, I used high strength velcro on arms where the Kokusan CDIs used to live and strapped a zip tie for good measure. I didn't want to bend the original brackets. Fits perfect.

Ryan

Hey Ryan, thanks, but (I lurk on the elefant yahoo group, mostly cause I haven't figured out how to post, so I just read the emails) I've done just as you suggest!

I agree, the ignitech is a great upgrade. The bike is running really smooth. Only hiccup is that either I have a crossed wire with the reg/rectifier, or (more likely) I somehow blew the reg/rectifier fuse... because the bike runs fine but isn't charging the battery. Had jury duty today and had to push start the bike after a quick coffee stop on the way in and then again on the way home. Going to sort that out tomorrow.

I've decided that the other bike is going to get mostly road oriented and reliability oriented upgrades, but this one is going to get modified for reliability (again) and off-road performance. I'd really like to do a Mexican 500 or something similar (Vintage class) with this bike. I'm sure it'll be capable of something like that. Maybe not a win, but certainly a finish.

Hey Ryan, thanks, but (I lurk on the elefant yahoo group, mostly cause I haven't figured out how to post, so I just read the emails) I've done just as you suggest!

I agree, the ignitech is a great upgrade. The bike is running really smooth. Only hiccup is that either I have a crossed wire with the reg/rectifier, or (more likely) I somehow blew the reg/rectifier fuse... because the bike runs fine but isn't charging the battery. Had jury duty today and had to push start the bike after a quick coffee stop on the way in and then again on the way home. Going to sort that out tomorrow.

I've decided that the other bike is going to get mostly road oriented and reliability oriented upgrades, but this one is going to get modified for reliability (again) and off-road performance. I'd really like to do a Mexican 500 or something similar (Vintage class) with this bike. I'm sure it'll be capable of something like that. Maybe not a win, but certainly a finish.

Anyways, thanks for the advice - confirms I went the right direction.

Cheers!

Cool! Glad to hear you got everything sorted out with the Ignitech. I still can't believe how much of a difference it made.

Sorry to hear about the charging issues. Did you check your stator to make sure it isn't blown?

No, haven't checked the stator yet - but the bike runs fine once I push start, I was assuming that meant that it wasn't alternator related.

The stator and charging system has really nothing to do with the bike running, i.e. it isn't needed to provided power to the coils as long as the battery is sufficiently charged. If it won't even spin the starter after you've ridden for a while then you have a stator issue. When A regulator goes out it is usually due to extra resistance at the connection points to the stator - bad or melted plugs are one sign of that. Sometimes the regulator going out will take the stator down - melting the coating around the different phases of the wire windings, thus making them all one winding and removing the ability to charge.

Have you checked the charging voltage after you start the bike?

It will run fine with no stator even in the bike - all it does is recharge the battery. As long as your battery has enough juice the bike will run. When it starts to lose charge then you're really going to be stuck somewhere. On my FI VFR800 I once rode 20 miles on a battery charge alone just to get home.